Category: News

The International Centre for Interdisciplinary Solutions on AMR (antimicrobial resistance) will eventually bring upwards of 500 jobs to Denmark. It is seen as a critical step towards meeting the global challenge of antibiotic resistance.

1st ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING OF THE ONE HEALTH EUROPEAN JOINT PROGRAMME ON FOOD-BORNE ZOONOSES, ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND EMERGING THREATS

This meeting takes place in Dublin on May 22nd-24th 2019

The conference organising team are delighted to invite you to attend the first Annual Scientific Meeting of the One Health European Joint Programme OHEJP on food-borne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging threats. The first One Health EJP Annual Scientific Meeting, is being jointly hosted by Teagasc and NUI Galway and held at the Teagasc Conference Centre, Ashtown, Dublin.

The conference is organised by Dr Geraldine Duffy, Teagasc (Chair) and Dr Dearbháile Morris, National University of Ireland Galway (Co- chair) in collaboration with a local organising team at Teagasc, National University of Galway, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, University College Dublin, Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the EJP project management team.

The UK government has agreed an extra £10 million to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at home and abroad.

•£9 million to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND)
•£1.5 million funding for a fellowship programme in developing countries to build capacity for calculating and mitigating the economic cost of AMR
•£1 million to an International Reference Centre providing practical support to developing countries to improve their ability to collect data on AMR to better tackle it across human health, animal health, agriculture and the environment

EARS-Net data for 2017 show that antimicrobial resistance remains a serious threat in Europe. For invasive bacterial infections, prompt treatment with effective antimicrobial agents is especially important and is one of the single most effective interventions to reduce the risk of fatal outcome. The high percentages of resistance to key antimicrobial groups reported from many countries are therefore of great concern and represent a serious threat to patient safety in Europe. Prudent antimicrobial use and comprehensive infection prevention and control strategies targeting all healthcare sectors are the cornerstones of effective interventions aiming to prevent selection and transmission of bacteria resistant to antimicrobial agents.

As the international community calls for more and better information to add to the ever-growing body of evidence on the effects of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on humans, animals, the environment and the economy, policy-makers need access to reliable surveillance data. This data is crucial for monitoring the status of key antimicrobial classes (groups of antimicrobials that are related to each other) in the European Region, and to track how effective policies have been in addressing this public health challenge.

The Central Asian and Eastern European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (CAESAR) network complements the surveillance data generated by the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance Network (EARS-Net) for countries of the European Union and European Economic Area, coordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The latest annual CAESAR report reveals steady progress towards forming a more complete picture of AMR in Europe. The report covers a growing and developing network of 19 countries to date.

This Thematic Issue focuses on the effects of anthropogenic use of antibiotics in various ecosystems and the implications for human health. Topics of interest include: evolution of antibiotic resistance, fate and effects of antibiotics in various ecosystems, dissemination of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes, bacteria with transferable resistances, co-selection, links between the environment and human health, and mitigation strategies.

Each November, World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) aims to increase global awareness of antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.

Since their discovery, antibiotics have served as the cornerstone of modern medicine. However, the persistent overuse and misuse of antibiotics in human and animal health have encouraged the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, which occurs when microbes, such as bacteria, become resistant to the drugs used to treat them.

The WHO World Antibiotic Awareness Week takes place on 12th-18th November 2018. This important event helps to highlight the need to increase the awareness on the use and misuse of antibiotics in the world.